The present invention is particularly but not exclusively concerned with winding strip or tape material which has a width greater than its thickness so that the material has to be laid carefully onto the package structure to ensure stability of the finished package structure.
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved apparatus for winding elongate material.
According to a first aspect of the invention, therefore, there is provided an apparatus for winding an elongate material comprising:
a support for supporting in a winding position a core onto which the material is to be wound;
a drive assembly for causing rotation of the core in the driving position about a longitudinal core axis;
a guide for directing the elongate material to the core such that the rotation of the core about the axis acts to wind the material around the core;
a traverse drive for effecting relative movement longitudinally of the axis between the core and the guide such that the material is traversed longitudinally of the core as it is wound around the core to form a generally cylindrical package structure;
and a rotatable drive head for transporting the package structure from the winding position to a doffing position and simultaneously for transporting an empty core from a supply position to the winding position, the rotatable drive head being arranged for rotation about a head axis substantially at right angles to the axis of the core.
Preferably the head axis is substantially vertical and the axis of the core is substantially horizontal.
Preferably the support is carried on the head and is cantilevered relative to the head from one end of core.
In some embodiments there is provided for the core a rotatable end support member movable along the core axis into engagement with the other end of the core for assisting in supporting the core during winding. This arrangement helps stabilize the package particularly where packages of larger diameter and weight are formed.
Preferably the head comprises a post and the support comprises a pair of hubs each connected to the post for carrying the package core and the empty core respectively.
Preferably the rotatable drive head is rotated through 180 degrees such that the doffing position and the supply position are the same position at which the package is removed and the empty core is replaced. However turning movement in steps less than the angle of 180 degrees may be provided for different stations around the axis of the head.
Preferably the drive assembly comprises a rotatable surface drive body, which is either a roller or a set of drive belts arranged to frictionally engage an outer surface of the package to effect driving of the package by surface drive. The drive belts arranged side by side around two parallel rollers can be used in replacement for a simple roller to increase friction to larger packages.
Preferably the surface drive roller or belts is mounted for movement relative to the core axis in a direction transverse to the core axis from an initial position to a retracted position to accommodate increasing diameter of the package on the core.
Preferably the surface drive roller or belts is mounted on a pivot arm arrangement for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to the core axis.
Preferably the surface drive roller is arranged in the retracted position such that the package moves on the drive head away from the surface drive body over the pivot axis and such that the empty core passes across the drive roller into the winding position.
Preferably the traverse drive drives the guide while the package itself remains at a stationary position along the core axis while it rotates.
Preferably the guide is a lay-on roller rotatable about an axis parallel to the core axis for contacting the package during winding.
Preferably the traverse drive drives the lay-on roller from a guide location during winding to a retracted position beyond one end of the package when the drive head moves the package such that the package moves past the normal location to the doffing position.
Preferably there is provided a length compensation system for taking up changes in path length of the material caused by movement of the guide and the length compensation system is positively driven in synchronism with and at a length proportional to movement of the guide.
Preferably the length compensation system includes a fixed guide member or roller over which the material passes and a movable guide member or roller over which the material passes, the movable guide roller being arranged to move away from and back toward the fixed guide roller to generate a change in path length, the distance of movement of the movable guide roller being one half of the movement of the lay-on roller.
Preferably the lay-on roller is driven in a direction parallel to the core axis by a first lead screw parallel to the core axis and wherein the movable guide roller of the length compensation system is driven by a second lead screw parallel to the first and driven commonly with the first.
Preferably the apparatus includes a winding module having four winding positions lying in a common horizontal plane and wherein each winding position is arranged at a corner of the module such that the doffing position of each winding position is located outside the module beyond the respective corner.
Preferably there is provided two rows of the winding positions making eight in total.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for winding an elongate material comprising:
a support for supporting in a winding position a core onto which the material is to be wound;
a drive assembly for causing rotation of the core in the driving position about a longitudinal core axis;
a guide for directing the elongate material to the core such that the rotation of the core about the axis acts to wind the material around the core;
a traverse drive for effecting movement longitudinally of the axis of the guide such that the material is traversed longitudinally of the core as it is wound around the core to form a generally cylindrical package structure;
and a length compensation system for taking up changes in path length of the material caused by movement of the guide;
wherein the length compensation system is positively driven in synchronism with and at a length proportional to movement of the guide.